1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer systems with graphical user interfaces and more particularly to a system and graphical method for creating objects by direct manipulation and the open action.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current systems provide for object creation from templates using the open action. For a template, the open action will create a new object and then open a window within which to manipulate the object. However, direct manipulation of the template may not be used for object creation in the general case because direct manipulation of the template is used to reposition the template within its container.
In many cases, it is desirable to create an object via direct manipulation. With creation via direct manipulation, the user has control over the location of the newly created object. Also, many times the user may not wish to open the object. In fact, within many applications, there may be objects such as geometric figures that can be created by direct manipulation but are only infrequently opened. Thus, some current systems provide for object creation via direct manipulation of templates. In those cases, the open action is not used to create the new object since this is how the template object itself is opened for modification. In these systems, templates cannot be repositioned, unless a special augmentation key is used during the direct manipulation.
In general, a trade-off results between supporting existing behaviors for direct manipulation plus the open action and the desire to provide a different behavior which results in object creation. Providing a different behavior makes templates useful for the purpose of creating new objects. However, removing support from normal object behaviors may cause confusion to the user. This trade-off is particularly evident when templates are placed on the user's electronic desk top. For objects that are frequently used, it is natural to place them on the desk top for convenient access. For example, if a user is frequently creating invoices, it would be natural for the user to place an invoice template on the desk top and "tear off" a new invoice from that template, as one would tear off a form from a pad of paper. The trade-off arises when the user wishes to reposition the template on desk top. In this case, normal direct manipulation cannot be used and templates behave inconsistently. Similarly, in systems where a template is opened to create a new object, a trade-off has been made since it is not possible to open the template to modify the template itself.